Allen House

461 Main Street

Photo Credit: Katie Briscoe

Located at
the corner of Main Street and South Prospect Street facing the southern end of
the University Green is the “Allen House.” The two-and-a-half-story structure
is rectangular in frame, five bays wide, with a hipped roof. It was built by
Henry Boardman
[i]
in 1838 in
the Greek Revival style, a style which was popular all across the United States
at the time.
[ii]
Henry Boardman was the son of Benjamin Boardman, a “pioneer of navigation” and
shipbuilder who came to Vermont from Norwich, Connecticut in 1788.
[iii]
Henry Boardman followed in his father’s footsteps and was a shipbuilder.He set up a business in 1797 in
Colchester, Vermont, and with the completion of the Champlain Canal in 1820,
began trading with merchants in New York and other towns along the Hudson
River.
[iv]
He married Deborah Bishop around 1804 and together had seven children (four
died within a year of birth) before she died in 1821.
[v]
He married his second wife Sabra Boardman in October 1823 and had four
additional children.
[vi]
Boardman built
his home and barn at what was then 471 Main Street and lived there until the
house was sold to Professor Farrand N. Benedict.

Benedict was
a professor of mathematics and engineering at the University of Vermont and was
chair of the department from 1832 to 1854.
[vii]
Benedict was an “ardent conservationist with a keen interest in the
Adirondacks, where he purchased large tracts of land to ensure their
preservation.”
[viii]
Benedict
and his wife lived at 471 Main Street until he left UVM in 1855 for his wife’s
health.
[ix]
He rented the property for several years until it was purchased by Dr. Leonard
Marsh in 1865.
[x]

Dr. Marsh was
a “Professor of Natural History” at UVM and was cousin to UVM Presidents James
Marsh and George P. Marsh.
[xi]
Marsh died
in 1870 and his wife continued living in the property until 1880 when it was
purchased by John Johnson Allen.
[xii]
A deed
dated March 16, 1881 shows the transfer of property to John Johnson Allen and
Louise Allen, both of the city of Brooklyn, County of Kings and State of New
York for the amount of $800.00.
[xiii]

The Allen
Family lived at 471 Main Street, later 461 Main Street, for over 50 years.
[xiv]
John Johnson Allen was a lawyer from New York who used the house as a summer
property for his wife Louise and two daughters, Elizabeth and Marguerete.
[xv]
It is possible the family moved to Burlington
permanently around 1886 when the house was remodeled with Queen Anne style
features, popular during the time.A bay window was added on the first floor of the northern façade, a
square porch was constructed off of the eastern elevation, and a pair of
dormers were added to the center of the roof on the northern façade.
[xvi]
When street addresses were renumbered in 1920, 471 Main Street became 461 Main
Street.
[xvii]
John Johnson Allen died in 1926 and his wife Marion continued to occupy the house
until her death in 1935. Their daughter Elizabeth, a teacher, lived in the
house for one year before selling the property to the University of Vermont.
[xviii]

In 1936, the
property was given the name “Allen House” and “after extensive modernization”
was used by UVM as a cooperative dormitory for women until 1967.
[xix]
An article published in the “Vermont Cynic” in 1957 explored the daily
goings-on of the women residing at Allen House. Of the thirty-two women living
in the house at that time, each had the responsibility to cook and waitress for
one week, three weeks out of the year. “The working system, the eating together
and living together, the giving and the sharing, the traditional parties and
the impromptu get-togethers make possible a closely-knit group and the
development of lasting friendships.”
[xx]
Mrs. W.
“Chattie” Johnson spent nine years as the head resident of Allen House and was
succeeded in 1948 by Mrs. Cora Kimball who remained for ten years.
[xxi]

Allen House
was used as a regular women’s dormitory from 1959 to 1967 then as a men’s dormitory
until 1973.
[xxii]
According to the minutes of the UVM Trustee meeting on December 4, 1965, a
motion to tear down the Allen House barn was approved.
[xxiii]
In 1973 Allen House held the Speech and Hearing Center at UVM, and the Eleanor
M. Luse Center for Communication Disorders until 1998.
[xxiv]
Since January of 1999 Allen House has been the home of the Center for Cultural
Pluralism at UVM.

Renovations and Architectural Changes

The Allen
House was not included on the Sanborn fire insurance maps until 1906. The structure
is L-shaped with porches on the eastern side of the northern façade and on the
southern and western elevations. A large rectangular barn is pictured behind
the house on the eastern side of the property, oriented north to south with the
entrance on the corner of the northwestern façade.
[xxv]
The 1912 Sanborn map shows the southwest corner of the original rectangular
block to have rounded edges. It looks as if the portion of the house behind the
front porch was increased in size to extend past the porch and the edges
rounded.
[xxvi]
The building and barn retain these shapes in the 1919 and 1926 maps. The 1942
Sanborn Map shows that the rear porch was decreased in size and a front porch
was created.In addition, a
projecting window was added to the western elevation and several square
features were added to the corners of the southern elevation. The dimensions of
the barn increased and an L-shaped wing was added to the northwestern façade.
[xxvii]